Don't Shake the Baby

Earlier this month our friends Makeesha & Nika returned to Tbilisi to baptize their son Luka. Almost 2 years ago we attended Makeesha & Nika's wedding in an historic church just outside Tbilisi. Now we were fortunate to be invited to the baptism of their son in the Georgian Orthodox church. The baptism was held in a church across the street from my old apartment in a newly renovated section designed specifically for this sacrament.

Traditionally in the Orthodox church mothers do not attend the baptism. Makeesha, however, was having none of that. The church allowed her to be present but she could not be involved in the ceremony. Instead Nika's sister, Nino, was on hand to help out when needed (pictured below in the white head scarf).



Nika & Makeesha selected 2 Godfathers for Luka instead of the traditional Godfather and mother. This is a result of the specific criteria for being a Godparent in the Orthodox church. One of the stipulations is that the Godparents cannot be relatives of the child. Below are Luka's 2 Godfathers and the priest performing the ceremony. We exchanged a couple jokes about a Georgian children's book coming out this fall entitled, Luka Has Two Godfathers.



Baptism in the Georgian Orthodox church is a total body experience. The baby is fully submerged 3 times and is then walked around the baptismal pool 3 times. Luka was quietly sleeping up until this part of the ceremony. The poor little guy was shocked awake by the cold air and water.



After each submersion the priest pulled Luka out of the water and gave him a healthy shake. Those of us in the room who have watched too much AFN (Armed Forces Network, our television provider) know the public service announcement Don't Shake the Baby. We each exchanged knowing looks and tried not to crack a smile.



Luka settled down after he was re-diapered and wrapped up. Makeesha did a great job remaining calm while her son was screaming and she was not allowed to comfort him. Those of us who were allowed to remain and observe this ceremony were lucky to be a part of this cultural experience. As with all major life events in Georgia we left the church and headed to the supra for delicious food, wine and dancing.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs.

Remember when you turned 15 years old? The best part of that day was the trip to the DMV to register for your driver's permit test. During the car ride home you flipped through the study guide committing street signs to memory with more intensity than you ever put into preparing for your algebra final. This is serious. You will soon be trusted to operate a 1 ton machine moving at high speeds surrounded by other teenagers all in barely street legal hand-me down cars. You have been dreaming about this moment since you were 13 and you do not want to screw it up. Fortunately for you, in the U.S., your community and society at large want nothing more than to support you in not screwing up. Road signs are created with just your limited brain power in mind. Signs like...





and...



are highly intuitive and if you can't figure out what you are supposed to do when you see one of these perhaps it is best if you call "Shotgun" from now on.

During our time here in Tbilisi many of you have heard us vent about "Georgian divers". We have even blogged about the language of horn honking and the misunderstanding of how to handle a one-way street. We may have been too hasty. Below you will find a small collection of street signs commonly seen on the roads here. Could you pass a driving test in Georgia?



This sign indicates:
a. Do not enter
b. The road is about to transition from pavement to gravel
c. Your road is about to merge with another road and the other road has the right of way.



Ah, the yellow diamond with white outline. This sign clearly signals a driver that,
a. Turn around, you have mistakenly turned right when you clearly meant to turn left.
b. Sink hole, 500m ahead
c. Your road is about to merge with another road and the other road has the right of way



Should you see this sign, please be advised that,
a. "X" marks the spot, start digging for buried treasure HERE!
b. The road you are on is about to become one-way in the oncoming direction. Turn DOWN now.
c. No parking begins at this point.



Finally, my personal favorite. The white circle with 5 diagonal black lines. And this would mean...
a. Caution. Slashing panther ahead
b. High skid mark risk ahead
c. All signs and rules of the road prior to this sign are no longer valid. Essentially, all bets are off. Do what ever you want.

If you answered "C" to all of the above questions you are ready for the responsibility of driving in Georgia. Yes, I realized that the answer to questions 1 & 2 is the same. Apparently both of these signs indicate the same thing. I showed these pictures to a Georgian friend who honestly did not know what the signs meant and had to go home and e-mail me the meaning the following day. I'm not sure it's really fair for us to give Georgians such a hard time about their driving when they are not exactly set up for success by their own system.